Laminar suspension or shock-absorbing spring for use on vehicles and aircraft



E. OWERS, F. C. PEARSON AND A. W- BERNDT. LAMINAR SUSPENSION 0R SHOCK ABSORBING SPRING FOR USE ON VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I6, 1920.

Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

Inven Tovs.

.D I III ETnesT Owers Francis CVJVPB 01;

A 1h r T T U A1Tys,

UNITED STATES:

PATENT OFFICE...

ERNEST OWERS, FRANCIS CLARE PEARSON, AND ARTHUR W. BERNDT, OF LONDON,

. ENGLAND.

LAMINAR SUSPENSION 0R SHOCK-ABSORBING: SPRING FOR USE ON VEIPIICLES AND AIRCRAFT.

Application filed July 16, 1920.

1' 0 all to 7mm may concern.

Be it known that we, l hznnsr (lwnns, Francis Glenn Pearson, and Kin mun dhn ma Brunei, subjects oi the King 03f Great Britain and Ireland, residii'ig at Ingleby road, l'lolloway, London, '7, llngland, have lllVBIllJGtl a new and useful Improve ment in Laminar Suspension or i'dhoclz-frh sorbing Springs for Use on Vehicles and Aircraft, of which the following is a speciilcation.

This invention has reference to in'iprovements in and re ating to laminar suspension or shock-absorbing springs for use on rehicles and aircraft, and it comprises a novel construction ct springs and a method of mounting same.

Our improved spring resembles the ordinary semi-elliptic type of carriage spring in that it is composed of a major leaf intended to bear yieldingly at its ends and a plurality of reinforcing leaves mounted thereon, or thereunder, but it has much greater flexibility and accommodates itseil to varying loads more readily than an ordinary semi-elliptic spring composed oi a like number of similar leaves, while it has a great advantage over such spring in that it practically absorbs all road shocks, however,sudden, without any violent reaction. As is well known, the ordinary semi-elliptic spring; does not yield readily, and reacts somewhat violently after,

being subjected to a sudden shock.

In a spring constructed in accordance with our invention the leaves bear directly upon each other at one end, like the leaves of an ordinary carriage spring, but they are spaced apart at their other ends and the load or thrust is taken by the free end of a bearin plate which is bolted or otherwise firmly fastened upon the central or body portion oi the spring and projects over the separated ends of the leaves so that it acts under the load or thrust to bring; the said separated ends into action successimly.

ll e have illustrated an eml'iodiinent 01"; our invention in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a spring constructed and mounted in accordance with our invention, part of the chassis of a motor car, the rear-axle, and part 01": a wheel mount- Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 396,727.

ed on the said axle being shown diagrant hi 2 is a plan View oi. Fig. l;

' o shows another way oil mounting the spring, and

i 4; a plan view of $3 with the addition oi a wheel mounted on the axle.

in the construction illustrated, the leaves of the spring are spaced apart by short pact;- ing pieces of an suitable mat l, which preferably tape thickness toward their ends. it. plate JL s mounted upon the shortest leaf, and this plate firmly secured upon the body portion oi the spring by a bolt 1; which passes through a hole torn'ied in the superposed leave and packing pieces. tlnc end oi this p l, hercinaiter referred to as the bearin plate, is provided with a stirrup or clamp i) which embraces the leaves closely and, with or without the aid 0t an additional clip 0, maintains them in contact with each other at that end of the spring, and the other end of the said bearing plate projr ts beyond the packing pieces and above the free, separated ends of the leaves.

The major leaf of the spring is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as pivoted at one end on the frame of a chassis G on a bolt D, at the end which the learcs are separated, and as b airing at its other end upon the rear axle oi? the chassis; and the tree-end oi the bean ingplate it. bears against a block E which pirotally mounted on a bolt F on the chasand accommodates itself readily to the inclination oi' the said plate; but this arrange ment may be varied in many ways, for instance, a roller may be substituted for the pivoted block id, or the said block and the bolt D may take the place of each other, the free end of the bearing plate being in that case formed with a rolled eye.

In Figs. 3 and r the spring is shown reversed, and the construction is varied slightly. The major leaf is pivoted at one end on the chassis as in Fig. l, and carried at its other end by swiveling links G- mounted on a bolt g which projects from. the chassis; and the bearing plate A bears upon the axle-to which it may be attached in any suitable manner.

In each arrangement, relative vertical movements of the chassis and the axle are cushioned by the separated ends of the leaves of the spring being brought into action successively.

We claim':

1. A laminar spring comprising a major leaf extending from one end to the other'of the spring and adapted to bear yieldingly at its ends, a-plurality of superposed reinforcing leaves arranged with one end of each leaf bearing directly on the next adjacent leaf and with the other ends of the leaves normally separated, and a bearing plate rigidly secured upon the superposed reinforcing leaves and having a free end separated from the leaves and projecting over the separated ends thereof, said free end of the bearing plate being adapted to receive the load.

2. A laminar spring comprising a major leaf extending from one end to the other thereof, a plurality of superposed reinforc ing leaves .of different lengths, means for securing said reinforcing leaves to the major leaf so that one end of each reinforcing leaf bears directly on the adjacent leaf while the other ends of the reinforcing leaves are nor- "mally separated from each other, and a bearing late rigidly secured to the superposed rein orcing leaves and havlng a free end separated from and pro'ecting over the separated ends of the rein orcing leaves.

3. A laminar spring comprising a major leaf extending from one end to the other of the spring, a plurality of superposed reinforcing leaves, spacing elements interposed between said reinforcing leaves, means connecting said reinforcing leaves to the major leaf and cooperating with the spacing elements to hold one end of each reinforcing leaf in direct engagement with the adjacent leaf and the opposite ends of the reinforcing leaves separated from each other, and a hearing plate rigidly secured at one end to the reinforcing leaves and having a free end extending over but spaced from the separated ends of the reinforcing leaves, said free end being adapted to receive the load, whereby when the load is applied to the spring through the bearing plate the separated ends of the reinforcing leaves will be brought together successivel ERNEST OWVERS. FRANCIS CLARE PEARSON. ARTHUR W. BERNDT.

\Vitnesses HENRY IMRIE, GLADYS SHREWSBURY. 

